Vint  ol  tho  tJiiw«*'" 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  WAR 


B  Y 

Reverend  Henry  C.  Kinney 

M.  A.  Columbia  University,  1861 


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CHRISTIANITY  AND  WAR. 

BY 

REVEREND  HENRY  C.  KINNEY, 
M.  A.  Columbia  University,  1861. 


War  lias  ever  been  so  common,  that  a  Christian  might  think 
it  would  be  easy  to  rind  in  Public  Libraries  many  treatises,  ser- 
mons and  articles  bearing  upon  the  above  mentioned  subjri-t  of 
the  relation  of  Christianity  to  war;  but  this  is  not  the  case.  I 
could  not  find,  for  instance,  that  since  about  the  beginning  of 
the  5th  Century,  much  had  been  written  upon  either  the  sin 
fulness  of  war  or  the  religious  duty  to  make  war.  1  could  not 
find  that  anyone  had  examined,  verse  by  verse,  every  book  in 
the  New  Testament  to  find  every  passage  bearing  upon  war, 
directly  or  indirectly.  When  such  search  is  made  the  result  of 
its  investigation  must,  I  think,  lead  most  persons  to  conclude 
that  Christ  sanctioned  war;  that  as,  in  the  Epistles,  most  of 
the  Christian  duties  are  taught  through  similes,  drawn  from  mil- 
itary life,  the  life  of  the  camp  must  have  been  considered  a 
most  honorable  vocation ;  and  that  from  the  records  of  Holy 
Wars  in  the  book  of  Revelation,  much  can  be  learned  about 
earthly  conflicts. 

Having  examined  the  New  Testament  without  one  direct 
reference  to  the  Old  Testament,  as  St.  Augustine  is  the  greatest 
of  all  teachers  on  the  subject,  I  have  referred  to  his  opinions. 
To  this  has  been  added  an  argument  on  the  sinfulness  of  all  war. 
That  has  been  followed  by  an  abstract  of  a  philosophical  article 
on  war,  which  can  be  better  read  in  the  Catholic  Encyclopedia, 
from  which  it  was  taken.  My  investigation  has  demanded  about 
three  months  study.  So-far  as  I  know,  the  Scriptural  part  is  an 
entirely  new  research. 

We  open  our  New  Testament  at  the  gospel  of  St.  Luke  at 
the  13th  verse  of  the  3d  chapter.  St.  John  the  Baptist,  was 
baptizing  in  the  river  Jordan  and  both  individuals  and  classes 
came  to  him,  from  whom  that  forerunner  of  Christ  demanded 
"Fruits  meet  for  repentance."  And  the  soldiers  likewise  de- 
manded of  him,  saying  "and  what  shall  we  do?"  And  he  said 
unto  them  "Do  violence  unto  no  man,  neither  accuse  any  falsely, 
and  be  content  with  your  wages."  As  Augustine  has  so  wisely 
said  in  substance  "if  they  were  to  be  content  with  their  wages. 


—  3  — 


then  they  would  have  been  supposed  to  have  remained 

At  the  interlapping  of  the  old  and  new,  "the  friend  ol  the 

i^det  I,"  t'.'.,,;.,.  that  the  profession  of  a soldier .not 

i,„.,„„pa.al.l-  «ith  a  g  1  .vl.Ki-.us  p«..t...it  li  e,  e^cn though 

the  army  had  its  own  peculiar  temptations,  which  were  to  be 
resisted.  Did  Jesus  Christ  the  bridegroom,  throw .any  stigma 
upon  the  occupation?  In  the  gospels  and  in  the  Acta,  OUtalde 
„f  the  chosen  12,  there  is  no  class  of  people  more  highly  hon- 
ored boft  by  utterance  and  spiritual  gifts 
members  of  the  army.    Whom  but  a  Roman  officer  won  d  havi 

■  thought  of  saying  (Mt.  8:8)  "Speak  the  word  on  y  and 
my  servant  shall  be  healed.  For  I  am  a  man  under  authority 
ha^ng  80ldiers  under  me,  and  I  say  to  tins  man  go  a  1 
goeth,  and  to  another,  come,  and  he  cometh.  It  was  the  tea  h 
i,"g  f  a  wide  army  experience  that  lead  the  centurion  at  the 
Cr^ss  and  thl'witn  him,  to  say,  according  to  two  of  the  evan- 
gelists "This  is  the  Son  of  God"  and  according  to  St  Luke 
••Vainly  this  was  a  righteous  man."  If  ^  ^ 
of  The  Acts"  of  the  Holy  Apostles,  we  find  in  the  10th  Chapter 
She  account  of  the  baptism  of  Cornelius  the  eentunon  of  be 
[talian  band,  by  st.  Peter;  m  the  23d  Chapte  how  & tjPai  I  s 
lit',,  was  siiv.-l  at  considerable  inconvenience  to  the  Roman  sol 

,v,  a,  Jerusalem;  and  in  the  27th  Chapter,  of  the  courtesy 
of  the  centurion  Julius  to  the  same  great  — nary  f apostle. 
The  eunuch  who  was  the  treasurer  ot  Queen  Candace  of  Ethio- 
pia whom  St.  Philip  baptized,  (Acts.  8:39)  was  probably  a  mil- 
itary oni^r.  So  was  that  "royal  officer/;  the  nobleman  o 
Capernaum,  an  early  convert,  spoken  of  in  St.  John  li  e 
jailer  at  Philippi  (Acts.  16,  25-33)  was  a  common  soldier  The 
'one  who  ran  and  filled  a  sponge  with  the  vinegar  (which  was 
the  only  drink  which  those  on  military  duty  were  allowed  to 
earrv  by  the  Unman  authorities)  was  one  of  the  common  rank 
and 'tile  of  soldiers  (Mt.  26-49).  When  he  ran  to  moisten  the 
lips  of  the  one  who,  dying,  cried  "I  Thirst"  (Jn.  19:29).  how- 
lie  shamed  those  who  think  in  our  day  that  soldiers  are  proverb- 
ially and  necessarily  cruel.  Surely  we  cannot  hud  m  gospel 
or  Ads  such  dissent  from  St.  John  the  Baptist,  as  to  lead  one 
to  think  that  the  military  life  was  a  discreditable  one  to  Christ. 

With  this  conviction  let  us  return  to  our  New  Testament. 
At  almost  the  opening  pages  of  the  gospel,  according  to  St. 
Matthew  we  find  the  "Sermon  on  the  Mount."  In  early  Chris- 
tion  ages,  after  the  year  325,  passages  are  taken  from  it,  such 
as  "resist  not  evil;  but  whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right 
cheek  turn  to  him  the  other  also"  (5:39),  and  "Love  your  ene- 
mies do  good  to  them  that  hate  yon"  (verse  44),  and  have  been 
used  as  condemnatory  of  all  anger  and  all  resistance  of  evil 
by  force.  But  what  do  such  passages  mean?  Christ's  life  is 
iii  one  sense  explanatory  of  his  teachings.  When  a  congrega- 
tion in  a  synagogue  was  unwilling  to  have  a  man  with  a  with- 
ered hand,  restored  to  strength  on  a  sabbath  day  (Mk.3 :5)  we  are 
told  "that  he  looked  around  on  them  in  anger."  When  the  apos- 
tles would  have  prevented  young  children  from  being  brought 


—  4  — 


to  him,  he  was  moved  with  indignation  (Mk.  10:13,  R.  V.). 
When  St.  Peter  in  Jit.  lti  :23  would  have  prevented  his  Master 
from  going  to  his  sacrificial  death,  Christ  called  his  apostle  "a 
stumbling  block;"  and  likened  him  to  Satan.  In  the  35  verses 
of  the  23d  Chapter  of  Matthew,  each  verse  carries  one  of  the 
most  scathing  pieces  of  sarcasm  and  denunciation  in  the  pages 
of  the  Bible.  Read  any  of  the  four  accounts  of  the  cleansing 
of  the  temple.  Think  of  that  young  man  making  a  whip  of  small 
cords  and,  with  it,  driving  out  of  the  temple  courts  sheep,  oxen, 
and  men.  See  him  returning  to  overturn  the  tallies  of  the  money 
changers,  and  to  prevent  anything  being  carried  through  his 
Father's  house.  When  we  read,  in  Jn.  18:22,  of  Christ  being 
struck  in  the  face  at  his  trial  before  Caiaphas,  he  did  not  turn 
the  other  side  of  his  face  to  the  smiter,  but  he  said,  probably 
in  indignant  tones  "If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear  witness  of  the 
evil,  but  if  well,  why  smitest  thou  me?"  If  our  conception  of 
Jesus  is  one  founded  only  on  a  person  living  up  to  the  Beati- 
tudes, without  any  grasp  of  force  and  punishment,  it  is  one 
which  is  not  a  conception  of  his  whole  character.  When 
St.  Paul  was  struck  in  the  face  about  30  years  later,  at  the 
command  of  the  High  Priest  (Acts  23:2),  the  author  of  that 
classic  on  charity  called  his  judge  "a  whited  wall,  whom  God 
would  smite."  Read  Acts  5:1-11 ;  8:23;  13:10-11 ;  19:15-17  and 
see  how  the  Apostles  acted. 

Christ's  life  shows  that  such  admonition  as  we  find  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  are  not  Christian  statutes,  to  be  always 
literally  obeyed,  but  that  they  are  inward  principles  always  to 
be  remembered,  even  when  authority  must  direct  severe  judg- 
ments. If  the  occupation  of  a  soldier  is  to  be  condemned  because 
of  them,  so  must  also  the  business  of  the  criminal  judge,  the 
policeman  and  the  jailer.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  while  several 
of  the  Ante-Nicene  writers  condemned  the  use  of  arms,  the  only 
one  who  associated  the  condemnation  with  the  fact  of  killing 
was  Lactantius,  the  latest  of  such  writers.  In  his  opinion,  the 
bearing  arms  and  the  giving  of  testimony  against  a  criminal,  in 
a  case  where  punshment  was  death,  was  equally  wrong  for  a 
Christian  to  do  because  both  placed  life  in  danger.  Can  any 
state  live  which  would  permit  God  to  be  the  only  punisher  of 
criminals? 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  ends  with  the  7th  chapter  of 
Matthew. 

In  the  10th  chapter  of  that  gospel  in  the  34th  verse  we  read 
"think  not  that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth.  I  came  not 
to  send  peace  but  a  sword.  For  I  am  come  to  set  a  man  at 
variance  against  his  father."  In  this  passage  that  anology  with 
army  life  which  runs  all  through  the  New  Testament  is  first 
drawn  by  Christ,  but  it  is  not  its  first  use  in  the  volume.  Simeon 
told  the  Virgin  Mother  when  she  presented  her  son  in  the  temple 
(St.  Luke  2:35)  "that  a  sword  should  pierce  through  her  own 
soul."  In  Christ's  words  we  have  the  picture  of  the  new  teach- 
ing  a>  une  dividing  the  household,  which  must  lie  followed  at 
whatever  consequences  to  the  unity  in  the  family. 

—  5  — 


In  the  29th  verse  of  the  12th  chapter,  the  words  are  How 
can  one  enter  into  a  strong  man's  house  and  spoil  his  goods, 
except  he  first  hind  the  strong  man?"  Christ  associated  his 
victory  over  the  power  of  evil  with  the  use  of  physical  f°rce.in 
compelling  submission.  Have  we  not  here  the  method  which 
the  State  must  always  follow,  or  at  least  have  alw  ays  an  inherent 
right  to  follow  in  overcoming  evil?  St.  Peter,  m  the  2d  chapter 
of  his  first  epistle,  writes  in  a  passage  which  St.  1  aul  strengtnens, 
' '  Be  subject  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord  s  sake  —  to 
governors  as  sent  by  him.  for  vengeance  ( R.  V.)  on  evil  doers 
„,,.!  lor  to  them  that  do  weU."    How  can  that  terror  be 

exerted  as  a  restraining  influence  upon  evil-doing,  coming  upon 
ruled  and  ruler  from  without,  unless  the  State  is  backed  by  force 
or  by  an  army  I  But  w  hen  the  State  calls  out  her  armies  in  war, 
a„d  the  members  have  fastened  on  themselves  an  extra  hazard 
of  losing  life,  dors  that  make  war  wrong?  Insix  places  m  the 
gospel  fit  10,39  and  10:25,  Mk.  8:35,  Lk  9:24  and  17:33 and 
in  In  12-25  is  an  axiom  of  Christ's  spoken  on  four  different 
occasions  and  recorded  by  each  of  the  Evangelists    No  o  her 

vivi  ,f  our  Saviour  has  been  so  honored  as  the  truth  which 

in  the  firsf  passage  mentioned  takes  the  form— for  this  varies— 
of  "He  that  findeth  his  life,  shall  lose  it;  and  he  that  loseth 
l,is  life  for  my  sake,  shall  find  it."  If  there  is  a  duty  presented 
to  any  follower  of  Christ,  that  duty  should  be  done,  whatever 
the  sacrifice  demanded.  If  duty  requires  from  any  a  sacrifice 
which  will  be  followed  bv  the  loss  of  our  physical  life,  it  must 
be  lost  Physical  life,  not  some  symbolic  life  was  the  life,  such 
as  all  now  'live.  And  it  was  that  life  which  was  frequently 
martvred  for  three  centuries,  and  that  life  which  suffered  some 
disadvantages,  of  which  he  spoke  when  he  said,  'he  that  hateth 
not  his  life  (  Lk.  14 :26)  cannot  be  my  disciple.  An  argument 
against  war,  when  war  would  be  duty  if  it  had  no  risk  of  lite, 
is  one  which  i  nns  contrary  to  the  most  honored  saying  of  <  hrist. 
Upon  the  slaughtered  body  of  martyrs  was  Christ's  church 
reared  War  and  martyrdom  have  this  in  common  that  both 
accomplish  their  end,  through  loss  of  life  sacrificed  through  a 
sense  of  duty. 

To  at  least  600,000  Americans,  out  of  over  nine  millions, 
there  should  he  not  one  doubt,  either  as  to  what  is  their  duty 
or  what  is  the  will  of  God  for  each  one.  Here  I  shall  use  my 
only  direct  reference  to  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  taken  from 
Prov.  16:33.  It  reads,  "The  lot  is  east  into  the  lap,  but  the 
whole  disposing  thereof  is  of  Jehovah."  When,  at  Washington, 
a  blind-folded  man  took  out  of  a  globe,  and  another  called,  say 
the  number  101  and  did  not  call  before  or  afterwards  No.  100, 
every  hoi, lei-  of  that  chosen  number  in  every  registration  dis- 
trict in  the  United  States  should  hear  the  voice  of  God.  before 
which,  individual  choice,  or  pleading  of  relatives,  or  the  fear 
of  death,  should  bow. 

In  Lk.  14:31-32  there  is  a  very  warlike  simile  "What  king, 
going  to  make  war  against  another  king,  sitteth  not  down  first 
and  eonsultcth  whether  he  is  able,  with  10,000  troops,  to  meet 


him  that  cometh  against  him  with  20,000,  or  else,  he  sendeth 
an  embassage,  and  desireth  conditions  of  peace."  Here  Christ's 
view  of  war  is  not  that  of  a  teacher  judging  it  to  he  wrong, 
because  of  loss  of  life  and  destruction  of  property,  but  has,  for 
its  sole  consideration,  whether  the  sacrifices  would  accomplish 
its  objects,  or  lead  to  greater  disaster.  Its  concluding  words 
are  "Whosoever  it  be  of  you  that  forsaketh  not  all  that  be  hath, 
he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  The  seeming  necessity  for  war  was 
more  fully  elaborated  in  many  ways  during  that  last  week  of 
Christ's  life  which  he  spent  at  Jerusalem.  Before  entering 
upon  last  words  and  incidents,  permit  me  to  refer  to  words 
uttered  at  a  little  earlier  date.  They  can  be  found  in  Mt.  18:7 
and  are  referred  to  in  Lk.  17:1  "Woe  unto  the  world  because 
of  offenses.  For  it  needs  be  that  offenses  come,"  or  as  St.  Luke 
writes  "It  is  impossible  but  that  offenses  will  come." 

The  offenses  which  excited  the  words  were  done,  it  is  implied, 
to  little  children.  St.  Matthew  carries  forward  his  words  by 
directing  the  offender  to  cut  off  the  offending  hand  or  foot,  and 
through  St.  Luke  by  directing  the  offended  to  forgive,  for  7 
times  each  day,  the  offender ;  but  there  are  offenses  against  these 
little  ones,  which  both  individuals  and  the  State  must  punish 
by  either  a  long  period  of  life  in  prison  or  by  death.  But  if 
offenses  are  natural  in  the  world  for  individuals,  it  is  as  impos- 
sible for  the  State,  as  it  is  for  individuals,  not  to  inert  them. 
Who  is  to  adjudicate  upon  the  wrongs  of  the  injured  party 
when  there  is  a  national  offense  continually  repeated?  There 
was  a  time,  not  long  since,  when  Christians  were  saying  "War 
will  never  again  be  waged."  International  law,  friendly  dip- 
lomats from  foreign  lands,  treaties  of  peace,  bonds  of  com- 
merce, a  constant  interchange  of  immigration,  would,  with  talks 
in  the  Peace  Palace  in  The  Hague,  always  prevent  it.  Twenty 
powers  additional  to  four  others,  have  in  the  last  three  years, 
contrary  to  their  previous  opinion,  found  their  only  protection 
for  peace,  was  in  the  declaration  of  war.  Their  only  dread  now 
is  that  it  may  be  forgotten  that  Napoleon  was  sent  to  Elba,  in 
May  1814,  to  return  to  the  mainland  in  February  1815,  and 
to  lead  hostile  forces  in  June  of  that  year  at  Waterloo.  Let  us 
now  seareh  the  last  pages  of  the  gospels  for  words  and  incidents, 
bearing  on  the  relation  of  Christianity  to  War. 

In  the  last,  part  of  the  21st  chapter  of  Matthew  there  is  a  par- 
able. At  the  conclusion  of  a  story  about  the  killing  of  the 
son  by  tenants  who  grasped  the  estate,  Jesus  turned  to  the  by- 
standers, who,  it  is  implied,  did  not  think  of  Jesus  as  a  Nathan 
(2  Sam.  12),  and  asked  them  "what  shall  he,  the  owner  and 
Father,  do  to  those  husbandmen?"  The  reply  was  "he  will 
miserably  destroy  those  wicked  men."  To  that  moral  conclu- 
sion, Christ,  by  silence,  gave  consent  and  sanctioned  war,  and 
that  without  one  single  suggestion  of  forgiveness  and  letting 
the  murderers  have  another  chance  to  steal  and  murder.  Not 
one  bystander  could  have  thought  that  he  was  speaking  of  a 
heavenly  war.  In  the  beginning  of  the  22d  chapter  of  Matthew 
there  is,  in  the  opening  of  another  parable,  the  murdering  of 


—  7  — 


several  innocent  parties  under  circumstances  greatly  similar  to 
those  in  the  previous  one.  This  time  Christ  tells  what  was 
done.  "The  king  was  wroth,  and  he  sent  his  armies"  (not 
army),  and  destroyed  those  murderers,  and  burned  up  their 
city."  Here  we  have  the  getting  angry,  the  employment  of 
armies,  and  the  destroying  with  the  city,  undoubtedly,  some  too 
young,  and  others  too  feeble,  to  have  done  any  previous  wrong. 
"The  king  was  wroth."  If  we  do  not  get  angry  at  wrong,  we 
will  lose  our  moral  and  religious  nature  just  as  much  as  we  "ill 
lose  them  if  we  do  not  love  peace,  and  cultivate  mercy  and  for- 
giveness. That  use  of  armies  was  a  picture  of  the  war  through 
which,  the  Roman  legion,  in  four  years  from  the  year  66  to  70, 
lost  many  thousands  of  soldiers  in  their  various  campaigns 
against  the  Jewish  troops. 

Immediately  after  the  last  parable,  to  which  reference  has 
been  made,  from  the.  15th  to  end  of  the  21st  verse,  is  related 
thai  incident  which  led  Christ  to  say  "Render  therefore,  unto 
Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's."' What  did,  first,  the  Jewish 
people,  and  then  the  Christian  church,  regard  as  "the  things 
of  Caesar's"?    The  reply  is  that  history  shows  that  it  meant  in 
addition  to  prayers  or  quasi  prayers  for  emperor,  people  and 
armies;  a  paying  of  taxes,  which  was  partly  used  for  the  ex- 
penses of  war;  and  in  the  enforced  military  service  of  a  certain 
number  from  each  province  in  military  service.   All  these  things 
the  Jews  were  bidden  to  do.    Prom  the  days  of  Augustus  to  the 
actual  commencement  of  the  Jewish  revolt,  there  were  daily 
offered  at  the  temple,  two  sacrifices,  for  the  emperor  and 
the  Roman  people,  at  which   were  offered  two  lambs  and 
an  ox.    Whether,  connected  with  those  sacrifices,  which  the 
Roman  people  might  think  from  sacrifices,  on  heathen  altars 
in  behalf  of  the  Roman  armies,  there  were  actual  prayers 
for  the  emperor  offered  in  Palestine,  may  be  doubted.  Out 
of   Palestine,   however,   in  every  synagogue,   prayers  were 
offered  weekly  for  emperor,  people  and  armies.    The  Jewish 
population  of  Judea  were,  by  law,  exempted  from  military  serv- 
ice, but  elsewhere  they  were  compelled  to  serve  in  the  army. 
The  exempting  power  eould  at  any  time  withdraw  the  exemp- 
tioih    The  taxation  in  Palestine  was  very  heavy.    In  St.  Augus- 
tine's opinion,  much  of  it  was  used  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
to  help  in  the  support  of  both  the  Roman  legions  and  the 
numerous  hands  of  provincial  troops.    (See  Sehurer's  Jewish 
People  in  the  Time  of  Christ,  Div.  2,  Vol.  1  from  P.  278).  To 
the  followers  of  Christ  there  was  always  the  obedience  to  the 
law,  written  in  (Rom.  13:7)  down  to  at  least  325  A.  D.  There 
was  ever  a  rendering  to  all  their  dues,  tribute  to  whom  tribute 
is  due,  custom  to  whom  custom.    Prayer  for  whoever  was  the 
emperor  is  spoken  of  in  about  all  the  Ante-Nicene  Apologists 
Tertullian,  the  most  rabid  denouncer  of  Christians  who  became 
soldiers,  in  the  30th  chapter  of  his  apology  says,  "For  all  em- 
perors we  pray.    We  pray  for  life  prolonged,  for  securitv  to 
the  empire,  for  protection  to  the  imperial  house,  for  brave 
armies,  tor  a  faithful  senate;  for  the  world  at  rest."    The  work 
Iron,  which  this  is  taken  was  written  about  the  year  195  The 
Greek  liturgies  which  have  come  down  to  us  are'  now  generally 

—  8  — 


supposed  to  have  been  originally  memorised  prayers,  which  with 
the  Creed  were  never  heard  by  anyone  unbaptized.  (Harford's 
Diet.  P.  B.  p.  229).  The  following  is  taken  from  the  Liturgy 
of  St.  Hark,  as  translated  in  the  Ante  Nieeue  volume  on  Litur- 
gies and  Documents.  Its  position  is  almost  preceding  the  Prayer 
of  Consecration.  "We  pray  and  beseech  Thee,  0  Lord,  that 
our  king  may  enjoy  long  life,  and  be  just  and  brave.  Subdue 
under  him  all  his  adversaries  and  enemies.  Gird  on  that  shield 
and  armor,  and  come  to  his  aid.  Give  him  the  victory,  0  God, 
that  his  heart  may  be  set  on  peace,  and  the  praise  of  Thy  Holy 
Name. ' ' 

American  Christians!  Copy  the  spirit  shown  in  this  old 
prayer.  Daily  pray  for  VICTORY,  because  you  think,  or  be- 
lieve, or  know,  that  your  cause  is  just.  Do  not  ask  your  maker 
to  protect  your  loved  ones  in,  as  it  were,  capital  letters,  while 
presenting,  on  the  same  occasion,  a  petition  for  the  cause  which 
tore  them  from  you,  in  the  very  smallest  type.  Be  equally 
zealous  in  your  prayers  for  the  safety  of  those  dear  to  you  and 
for  their  success.  So  will  you,  at  home,  render  unto  Caesar 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are 
God's. 

During  all  the  Christian  centuries,  the  Christian  duty  of 
rendering  to  Caesar  what  is  Caesar's  by  all  but  a  few,  has  been 
thought  to  include  the  duty  of  military  service,  as  well;  all 
the  obligation  to  offer  prayers  for  rulers,  and  in  times  of  wars, 
prayers  for  the  success  of  the  army  and  navy;  while  bearing 
increased  taxation,  is  the  inevitable  accompaniment  and  miw 
quence  of  war.  But  there  is  another  duty  which,  is  modern 
times,  has  not  been  so  cheerfully  assumed.  A  consequence  of 
war  is  spoken  of  in  Rev.  6:6,  where,  to  use  understandable  Eng- 
lish, it  is  stated  that  a  quart  of  wheat  and  thr  [uarts  of  barley 

is  sold  or  is  to  be  sold  for  17  cents,  while  the  angel  is  bidden 
not  to  touch  the  olive  oil,  or  the  wine.  Greater  increase  in  the 
price  of  necessities  of  life  that  are  needed  by  the  many,  than 
in  the  price  of  luxuries  of  life  used  by  the  few;  great  increase 
in  the  price  of  food ;  little  increase  in  salaries,  or  wages ;  that 
condition,  forced  upon  many,  whose  support  comes  from  stated 
incomes — this  is  a  physical  evil,  which  is  ever  one  of  the  con- 
sequences of  modern  war.  Should  it  ever  be  met,  without  the 
thought  that  the  Providence  of  God  has  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  the  affairs  of  this  life?  Ought  the  cry  "Give  us  peace"  be 
ever  for  peace  because  it  will  add  to  our  comfort?  Should  it 
not  be  met  by  lowering  the  standard  of  living,  or  as  in  England, 
through  an  increase  of  bread  earners  in  the  family?  Should  it 
not  be  remembered  that,  in  Christ's  day,  the  principal  articles 
of  food  were  barley  leaves  and  dried  fish?  What  grandparents 
in  all  of  the  countries  ate  50  years  ago,  how  they  dressed,  and 
how  they  enjoyed  life  should  be  remembered.  For  at  least  50 
millions  in  the  United  States,  what  they  can  give  to  their 
country  as  their  share  in  the  financing  of  this  war,  and  how 
they  can  unite  their  sacrifices  with  those  made  by  soldiers  in 
the  trenches,  depends  entirely  upon  how  they  will  meet  a  great 
change  in  their  economic  condition  of  life  due  to  the  difference 
between  earnings  and  prices  of  necessities. 

—  9  — 


That  the  cry  for  "peace"  which  is  prompted  by  the  thought 
of  individual  discomfort,  is  not  Christ's  idea  of  peace,  is  proven 
by  his  words,  in  the  last  verses  of  this  same  22d  chapter,  m  a 
limitation  frointhe  Psalms,  which  is  itself  quoted  by  St.  Paul  in 
1  Cor.  15:25:  "He  must  reign  until  He  hath  put  all  His  enemies 
under  his  feet." 

Here  we  have  a  ruler  at  war  for  as  long  a  time  as  his  enemies 
are  able  to  escape  complete  humiliation.  They  were  put  under 
his  feet. 

Such  a  spiritual,  perhaps  symbolic  war,  was  a  fitting  opening 
to  prophetic  teaching  of  the  24th  of  Jit.,  where  with  its  telling 
of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  as  the  main  topic,  that  subject 
seems  to  have  connected  with  it  some  account  of  the  end  of  the 
world.  That  war,  some  40  years  afterwards,  was  one  in  which 
the  .Jewish  people  were  driven  into  rebellion  by  the  actions 
of  most  of  the  successors  of  Pontius  Pilate,  and  especially  by 
the  cupidity,  craft  and  cruelty  of  the  last  one.  Christ  wept 
over  what  was  to  be  in  the  future  because  great  buildings 
would  be  completely  destroyed.  He  seems,  however,  to  have 
regarded  the  war  as  a  necessity.  If  necessary,  that  way  of  war, 
at  least  in  this  case,  was  in  accord  with  Christ's  teaching  of  the 
duty  of  non-resistance  and  foregiveness  of  enemies  and  man's 
duties  to  their  fellow  men.  Yet  what  advance  has  man  ever 
made  in  any  direction,  which  has  been  unassociated  with  strug- 
gles, tears  and  strife?  If  there  was  a  necessity  for  war,  then 
Christ  seems  to  intimate  that  such  necessity  will  continue.  This 
be  taught  through  Mk.  13,  7  and  8  (R.  V.)  :  "When  ye  hear  of 
wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  be  not  troubled."  What  was  to  be 
the  reason  for  their  calmness?  "These  things  must  needs  come 
to  pass.  For  nation  shall  rise  against  nation  and  kingdom 
against  kingdom."  Here  we  have  the  judgment  of  the  only 
perfect  reader  of  the  future,  ignorant  of  but  one  fact,  as  to 
what  is  to  be  expected  during  an  indefinite  period  of  coming 
ii   lie  anticipates  those  national  troubles  and  in  that  anti- 
cipation be  is  the  strength  of  the  right,  for  he  is  the  refuge  of 
.ill  seeking  right.    Knowledge  of  all  things  is  with  him. 

In  the  Old  Testament  three  of  the  prophets  bad  spoken  of  a 
time  when  "spears  would  be  turned  into  pruning  hooks." 
There  is  no  parallel  passages  or  even  passsage  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment relating  to  peace  coming  to  communities  or  existing  between 
kingdoms  and  nations.  The  great  underlying  principle  in  those 
Old  Testament  prophecies  is  taught  by  Christ  in  another  way, 
which  is  brought  out  in  no  place  more  fully  than  in  the  last  great 

di  ii-s.'.  recorded  in  the  gospel  written  by  St.  John,  "Peace  I 

leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you.  Not  as  the  world 
giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither 
let  it  be  afraid."  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest"  is  not.  as  in 
our  old  Bible  version,  "and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  towards 
men."  but  is,  as  translated  in  the  revised  version  "And  on 
earth,  Peace  among  men  in  whom  He  is  well  pleased."  That 
broadening  out  of  the  thought  of  peace  may  have  been  the 
reason  why  the  long  discourse  in  the  14  chapter  of  the  4th 
Evangelist  ends  with  the  words  in  Jn.  16:33:  "In  the  world,  ye 


—  10  — 


shall  have  tribulation;  but  be  of  good  cheer;  I  have  overcome 
the  world."  The  discourse  was  followed  by  the  prayer  in  the 
17th  chapter.  Fortified  by  teaching  and  prayer,  just  before 
going  out  from  that  Upper  Chamber  for  a  little  walk  to  the 
.Mount  of  Olives,  is  the  probable  time  when  words,  which  have 
come  down  to  us  in  only  the  3d  gospel,  were  spoken  by  Christ. 
Having  asked  the  apostles  whether  they  lacked  anything  when 
he  sent  them  on  missionary  journeys  without  cither  money  or 
the  leathern  bag  to  hold  provisions,  called  "scrip",  or  shoes,  their 
reply  was  "Nothing."  Then  said  He  unto  them:  "But  now 
let  him  that  hath  purse  or  'scrip'  taken  them."  And  then  He 
added,  "And  he  that  hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  cloak  (R. 
V.)  and  buy  one."  The  reason  that  he  gave  for  this  new  direc- 
tion was  that  his  death  was  near,  and  all  things  written  of  him 
would  be  soon  accomplished.  That  reason  being  given  to  the 
apostles,  they  said:  "Lord,  behold,  here  are  two  swords."  And 
he  said  unto  them:  "It  is  enough,"  and  he  came  out  and  went, 
as  he  was  wont,  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  the  disciples  fol- 
lowed him  (Lk.  22:35-39). 

The  agony  in  Gethscme  followed.  That  ended,  we  find,  by 
returning  to  the  first  gospel  (Mt.  26:46)  that  Christ  said, 
"Rise,  let  us  be  going.  And  while  he  yet  spake,  lo,  Judas 
came,  and  with  him  a  great  multitude,  with  swords  and  staves. 
That' multitude,  after  the  leader  of  the  little  hand  had  been 
pointed  out,  by  means  of  a  kiss,  came  and  laid  hands  on  Jesus, 
and  took  him."  Here  (see  also  Jn.  18:10)  Simon  Peter  drew 
his  sword,  which  he  had  probably  taken  from  that  Upper  Cham- 
ber at  the  implied  direction  of  Christ,  and  cut  oil'  the  ear  of  a 
servant  of  the  high  priest,  which  the  divine  healer  immediately 
restored,  saying,  probably  at  the  same  time,  to  Peter:  "Put  up 
again  thy  sword  into  its  place:  for  all  they  that  take  the  sword, 
shall  perish  by  the  sword."  In  the  book  of  Rev.  13:7  and  10 
in  a  great  war  made  by  the  dragon  against  the  saints,  it  is  said 
that  "The  patience  and  faith  of  the  saints  is  that  lie  that  leadoth 
into  captivity  shall  go  into  captivity,  he  that  killctb  by  the 
sword,  must"  be  killed  with  the  sword."  In  both  places  the 
final  sufferers  are  the  aggressors.  Who  were  the  aggressors 
when  Christ  was  arrested?  They  who  came  out  with  swords 
and  the  clubs  borne  by  each  one  of  the  large  temple  police 
force,  when  they  could  have  arrested  him  quietly  at  any  time. 
Christ,  in  his  first  teaching,  had  taught,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
to  lose  life  was  the  way  to  gain  life.  On  that  very  week  (Jn. 
12:24-271  he  said  that  he  was  about  to  practice  what  he  preached, 
and  die  that  he  might,  live.  The  last  persons,  who  would  have 
been  generally  deterred  from  taking  the  sword,  through  fear 
of  dying  in  battle,  were  the  apostles.  A  panic  did  overtake  those 
followers,  but  that  desertion  and  fear,  it  is  implied,  was  con- 
sidered by  their  Master,  as  a  wrong  action.  "Dying  by  the 
sword  taken"  was  a  prophetic  view  of  what  would  he  40  years 
afterward,  when  the  greatest  carnage  would  be  centered  at  the 
temple,  and  where  about  as  many  Jewish  lives  would  fall  in  a 
civil  war  "while  the  enemy  was  at  its  gates"  as  by  Roman 
soldiers  With  this  he  immediately  connected  another  idea  of 
safetv    At  a  time  when  the  regular  Roman  army  consisted  of 


only  23  legions,  all  scattered  along  a  boundary  frontier  of  3,001) 
miles,  no  two  in  peace  time,  within  hundreds  of  miles  of  each 
other,  he  said:  "Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  pray  the  Father 
and  he  shall  give  me  more  than  12  legions— more  than  halt  ot 
all  that  regular  scattered  Roman  force,  more  than  12  legions 
of  angels  "  That  they  would  then  fight  successfully  for  him 
is  proven  by  their  being  able  to  prevent  his  being  taken  prisoner 
The  words  "are.  "Hut  how  then,  shall  the  Scripture  be  fulfilled 
that  thus  it  must  be?"  (Mt.  26:53).  With  different  agents  as 
defenders  are  Christ's  assurance  of  his  perfect  safety,  when  in 
Jn  19-36  he  used  the  words,  "If  my  kingdom  were  ot  this 
world  then  would  my  servants  fight  that  I  should  not  be  de- 
livered to  the.  Jews:"  which  is  the  last  incident  m  the  gospel 
relating  to  war.  This  reply  of  Jesus  has  been  used  by  the 
Presiding  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  as  giving 
authority  to  rulers,  to  call  upon  subjects  for  armed  forces  when 
national  differences  between  kingdoms  of  this  world  demand  the 
use  of  armies.  Who  can  add  any  strength  to  the  reasoning. 
We  pass  to  the  epistles. 

In  the  21  epistles  there  are  between  80  and  90  uses  of  sim- 
iles (some  many  times),  founded  upon  military  life  or  war. 
These  are  to  be  found  in  every  epistle  except  in  the  one-chap- 
tered books  of  2d  and  3d  of  John  and  Jude.  Even  in  those 
three  as  in  all  other  books  in  the  New  Testament,  there  is  the 
mention  of  peace  which,  as  it  is  the  anthithesis  of  war,  is  a 
quasi  military  figure.  That  peace  is  more  than  the  peace  he- 
lm,-n  individuals  or  nations.  For  this  St.  Paul  prayed  in  2d 
Thess  3:16:  "Now  the  Lord  of  peace  himself  give  you  peace 
at  all  times  in  all  ways"  (R.  V.)  The  A.  V.  reads  "all  ways 
by  all  means."  This  is  the  nearest  approximation  to  those  Old 
Testament  prophecies  in  the  New  Testament. 

Before  referring  to  a  few  of  the  most  important  similes  in 
tin-  epistles,  which  are  ap1  to  be  overlooked,  I  would  state  that 
the  millions  of  Christians  who  use  a  liturgical  service  constantly 
use  such  a  figure  when  in  many  different  languages  they  say 
something  similar  to  "Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  or 
Lord  God  of  Sabbath."  In  the  words  the  Lord  God  Almighty 
is  accredited  with  being  the  Commander  in  Chief  of  large 
armies,  some  stationed  in  the  world  above,  where  they^  have 
some  knowledge  of,  and  some  connection  with  the  affairs  of 
this  world,  while  some  are  in  bands  of  smaller  numbers  scattered 
in  armies  in  the  world  below. 

It  was  to  a  commander  of  a  very  small  force  that  St.  Paul 
wrote  when  he  would  keep  that  one  from  becoming  entangled 
with  the  affairs  of  the  world  by  reminding  him  (2  Tim.  2:4) 
that  he  was  "called  to  be  a  soldier."  The  same  writer  calls 
both  Epaphroditu's  (Phil.  2:25)  and  Archippus  in  the  2d  verse 
in  Philemon  "fellow  soldiers."  How  many  times  is  the  "good 
light"  alluded  to?  How  many  times  are  4  or  5  different  adver- 
saries mentioned.  "Crowns"  are  not  the  diadems  of  royalty 
but  were  the  garlands,  put  on  the  brows  of  valiant  soldiers,  by 
the  victorious  general.  Triumph  and  victory,  and  capture,  and 
such  like  figures  meant  far  more  to  the  contemporaries  of  the 


—  12  — 


apostles  than  they  can  ever  mean  to  us.    At  the  head  of  a  Ions; 
procession  of  troops  comes  the  triumphant  army,  armed  with 
spears  and  sword.    Before  fighting  for  months  they  had  been 
taught  by  hard  work  and  drill  to  fight  lawfully,  to  know  when 
the  trumpet  gave  the  sound  to  prepare  for  battle,  how  to  put  ou 
the  armor.    How  many  times  had  each  soldier  been  left  to 
watch.    How  many  times  had  his  captain  bidden  him  to  stand 
firm,  or  to  be  strong,  steadfast,  never  giving  an  inch  to  the 
enemy,  by  being  immovable.    All  had  endured  many  hardships 
and  sometimes  had  been  defeated.    Their  troubles,  trials  and 
suffering  were  then  all  forgotten  for  every  soldier  had  been 
given  a  donative.   Then  came  "spoils"  of  the  conquered  coun- 
try.   The  triumphant  general  in  a  chariot  soon  appears  witli 
his  private  guards.    Back  of  all  that  was  a  man  loaded  with 
chains,  who  had  been  either  the  ruler  or  the  genera]  of  the  con- 
quered country.    After  the  triumphant  march  he  will  privately 
be  decapitated.    The  unnumbered  thousands  in  the  "captured" 
army  followed.    They  were  not  to  be  soon  sent  back  to  their 
country.    They  were  the  property  of  the  "conquerors."  Some 
were  to  be  trained  to  "fight  with  men  and  beast."    Very  many 
were  to  be  sent  to  work  in  the  royal  mines,  where  the  conditions 
of  life  were  so  unfavorable  and  deaths  so  many  that  there  was 
always  a  dearth  of  workers.    The  rest  were  to  be  sold  to  slave 
buyers.   "Redemption"  meant  the  restoring  of  such  captives  to 
liberty,  home  and  relatives,  by  paying  down  the  price.  Under 
such  similes  the  author  of  that  classic  song  of  charity  in  the 
13th  chapter  of  1  Cor.  and  others  taught  newly  made  Chris- 
tians their  duties. 

The  epistle  to  the  Hebrew  is  now  generally  considered  to  be 
written  by  one  of  Paul's  pupils.  When  its  unknown  author 
would  spur  his  readers  to  aspire,  through  sense  of  forgiveness 
and  "redemption"  to  the  high  duty  of  "overcoming"  their 
"besetting  sins"  he  does  it  with  the  words  "Ye  have  not  yet 
resisted  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin"  (Heh.  12:4),  where 
the  figure  is  that  of  a  soldier  engaged  in  mortal  contln-t  ready 
to  lay  down  his  own  life  while  prepared  under  orders  to  take 
life  Can  we  think  that  Christians  would  be  bidden  in  so 
many  ways  to  take  the  fighting  soldier  as  their  model,  and  from 
him 'learn  to  fight  manfullv  against  sin,  the  world,  and  the  devil, 
and  to  continue  Christ's  faithful  soldier  until  life's  end,  if  war 
were  wrong'  Such  similes,  in  such  numbers  and  in  so  many 
different  relationships  to  the  Christian  life,  do  convincingly 
lead  to  the  conclnson  that  the  apostles  regarded  the  military 
life  in  its  general  features,  as  a  commendatory  one.  We  pass 
to  that  book  of  "Revelation"  which  St.  Jerome  thought  was 
as  full  of  mystery  as  it  was  of  words."  It  commences  with  a 
greetin"  of  peace  from  him  "who  was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come, 
bv  St  John,  to  the  churches  of  Asia.  Casting  down  our  eyes 
to  the  16th  verse,  we  read  that  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Son  ot 
Man  (13th  v  )  "there  went  a  two-edged  sword."  This  picture  is 
a  warlike  one.  From  the  6th  chapter  to  the  end  it  principally 
deals  with  war.  Remembering  that  as  early  as  about  the  year 
400,  one  who  from  its  pages  declared,  that  the  end  of  the  work 
was  at  hand,  because  this  statement  meant  this  event  and  that 


—  13  — 


person  without  doubt  could  only  mean  that  individual,  was 
w-irned  by  one  of  the  greatest  Christian  scholars  and  thinkers 
that  its  author  ought  to  put  his  conclusions  so  mildly,  that  if 
time  showed  any  falsity,  men  should  cease  to  blame  God  s 
word",  we  do  not  try  to  explain  meanings  on  account  of  that 
warning. 

What  is  stated  about  war  will  be  treated  simply  as  true 
events  Assuming  that  both  of  the  two  holy  wars  spoken  in 
the  work  had  for  exoitor,  the  powers  of  heaven,  let  us  turn  to 
the  Gth  chapter  to  see  how  they  prepared  for  war.  "Armed 
with  -i  bow  the  first  horseman  went  forth,  conquering  and  to 
conquer;"  (6:2)  "the  second  to  take  peace  from  the  earth  (4 
v  )  the  third,  to  create  a  scarcity  of  food,  which  would  be  espe- 
cially felt  by  the  common  people,  and  the  fourth  called  'death 
to  kill  by  'the  sword,  by  hunger  and  by  the.  beasts  of  the 
earth  '  "  I  believe  that  the  above  description  was  recorded  by 
the  same  St.  John  who  wrote  (1  Jn.  4:8)  :  "He  that  loveth  not 
knoweth  not  God,  for  God  is  love."  Love  without  necessary 
punishment  is  not  love.  The  punishment  must  be  adapted  to 
and  be  suitable  for  obtaining  the  end  sought,  not  only  in  the 
individual,  but  also  in  the  individuals  living  in  communities 
with  other  beings.  Christ  represents  forgiveness  in  a  parable 
Ml  ls  u::-:;:,).  After  a  great  king  had  forgiven  a  servant,  who 
owed  10,000  talents,  that  servant  went  out  and  threw  into  prison 
a  fellow'  servant  who  only  owed  100  pence.  The  final  action  of 
the  great  merciful  king,  personifying  mercy  itself,  in  order  to 
teach  forgiveness  is  represented  as  angry,  and  orders  the  former 
forgiven  great  debtor  to  be  delivered  to  tormentors,  until  he 
should  pay  all  that  is  due  him.  After  those  horsemen  departed 
on  their  war  march  the  souls  of  those  under  the  altar,  who  had 
been  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  cried  "How  long  dost  thou 
not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth."  They  were  bidden  to  wait  until  all  the  number  should 
be  filled  of  persons  so  killed.  The  horsemen  would  soon  be  suc- 
cessful. Before  them  even  the  great  powers  of  earth  hid  them- 
selves with  trembling. 

This  was  an  aggressive  war,  a  punitive  war  and  a  defensive 
war  to  protect  from  abuse  the  living  saints.  In  God's  own  war, 
varied  but  wisely  collected  forces  were  sent  out  to  do  extensive 
damage  to  the  enemy,  and  we  have  here,  cries  for  vengeance  and 
retaliation  coming  from  saints  in  Paradise,  who  were  as  well 
informed  as  any  living  Christians  could  be,  of  Christ's  axiom 
in  Mt.  5 :44,  ' '  But  I  say  unto  you,  love  your  enemies,  bless  them 
that  curse  you ;  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for 
them  who  despitefully  use  you,  and  persecute  you."  and  who 
were  better  able  than  those  living  in  this  sinful  world  to  resist 
evil,  if  evil  it  be,  such  cries  and  feeling,  some  of  the  earth 's  saints 
would  condemn  in  some  Belgian  orphan,  or  in  those  in  some 
undefended  village  in  England  who  were  seriously  injured  by 
bombs  from  airships.  Those  unreproved  cries  in  heaven  should. 
I  think,  at  least  if  they  come  from  victims  of  unlawful  warlike 
acts,  compel  us  to  stop  and  think,  whether  there  be  not  very  good 
Christianity  in  the  feelings  and  cries,  and  prayers  for  ven- 


—  14  — 


geance  of  such  victims  of  earthly  unlawfulness  and  cruelty. 
War  has  its  own  laws. 

In  the  12th  chapter,  the  account  of  a  second  war  which 
might  be  called  a  defensive  one,  is  commenced,  and  is  carried 
forward  to  the  end  of  the  18th  chapter.  Probably  to  account 
for  a  new  personage  called  in  the  3d  verse  a  "great  red  dragon," 
in  the  7th  verse  there  comes  a  kind  of  parenthesis,  which  is 
introduced  by  the  words  "there  was  a  war  in  heaven.  Michael 
and  his  angels  fought  against  the  dragon,  and  the  dragon  fought 
him  and  his  angels."  When  we  find  that  a  Christian  bonk  recog- 
nized that  at  some  time,  the  necessity  of  war  was  felt  in  heaven 
and  the  necessity  of  the  angels  carrying  it  on  in  such  a  way 
and  at  such  a  sacrifice,  that  it  is  said  of  Michael's  forces  "that 
they  loved  not  their  lives  unto  death"  (11  v.),  is  there  not  a 
presumptive  proof  that  in  the  more  wicked  earthly  world  there 
must  be  such  a  necessity  recognized  and  blessed  by  the  creator, 
through  help  to  the  righteous  cause?  This  war  in  heaven  seems 
only  indirectly  connected  with  God's  second  war.  The  end  of 
this  last  war  was  so  great  a  destruction  of  a  very  large  and 
very  wealthy  city,  called  "Babylon,"  that  not  a  light  from  one 
candle  could  be  seen  shining  in  all  its  vast  ruins. 

In  both  wars  all  the  gigantic  resources  of  nature  were 
concentrated  to  carry  forward  with  a  resolute,  inflexible,  ruth- 
less, persevering  effort  and  sacrifice,  the  determination  to  fight, 
until  all  the  friends  of  cruelty,  dishonesty,  lying,  licentiousness 
and  lawlessness — who  are  all  represented  as  having  headquar- 
ters in  that  Babylon— should  be  completely  overcome.  When 
that  was  done,  there  was  nothing  left  to  do  but  to  bind  Satan 
for  another  thousand  years,  and  to  praise  God  for  his  goodness, 
because,  through  war,  some  of  the  influences  of  evils  were 
lessened. 

The  inferred  consent  of  God  to  war,  the  blessing  conferred 
through  war,  the  methods  of  wars,  and  the  object  aimed  a1  in 
war,  can  all  be  learned  from  studying  the  book  of  Revelation. 

Our  examination  of  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament,  not  for 
proof  texts,  of  which  there  are  none,  pro  or  eon,  but  for  incidents 
and  statements  bearing  upon  the  teachings  of  Christ,  gathered 
from  the  four  gospels,  from  the  writings  of  the  apostles,  and 
from  the  last  book  in  the  Bible,  has  been  completed. 

To  any  interested  in  studying  the  relation  of  Christianity 
to  war  during  the  period  between  the  years  100  and  325,  the 
reading  of  twelve  pages  on  "The  Spread  of  Christianity  in  the 
Army"  in  the  2d  volume  of  Harnaek's  "The  Mission  and  Ex- 
pansion of  Christianity,"  commencing  with  the  fifty-second  page 
of  the  English  translation,  together  with  the  two  articles  m 
Smith  Hid  Cheetham  s  Chrintnn  Antiquities  on  Mihfir.  *  i- 
ice"  and  on  "War"  with  the  reading  of  pages  185  and  186  ol 
the  volume  of  "Tertullian",  in  "The  Library  of  the  Fathers  if 
that  is  joined  to  looking  through  the  first  volume  of  the  English 
translation  of  Hefele's  "Councils"  will  give  a  very  interesting 
view  of  both  the  opinion  of  several  Christian  writers  on  war  m 
the  abstract,  and  the  religious  difficulties  which  beset  Chris- 
tians when  they  were  serving  in  pagan  armies. 


—  15  — 


When  Constantine  the  Great,  in  the  year  312,  after  probably 
seeing  some  vision  or  having  some  dream,  before  going  into 
battle  removed  the  imperial  eagle,  which  was  perched  at  the 
top  of  the  royal  standard,  and  substituted  for  it  the  Christian 
monogram  enclosed  in  a  wreath,  by  that  act,  as  he  was  ever  a 
politician,  virtually  announced  to  the  world  that  a  large 
majority  of  his  soldiers  were  either  Christians  or  at  least  had 
friendly  feelings  for  that  religion.    By  the  year  324  when,  after 
another  successful  battle,  he  announced  that  he  believed  in 
Christ,  all  the  most  objectionable  features  of  the  pagan  army  life 
had  probably  been  quietly  dropped.    That  veneration  for  the 
standard  of  the  army,  independent  of  thought  of  what  was  on  it 
to  the  Roman  soldier,  probably  remained  the  chief  article  of  his 
belief  for  many  years.    By  about  the  year  380  that  opinion 
had  been  greatly  modified.    When  about  that  year  St.  Ambrose 
blessed  the  Christian  standard,  called  "The  Labarum"  in  the 
first  Christian  prayer  before  it  was  borne  into  battle,  his  prayer 
was,  "Turn,  0  Lord,  and  raise  the  standard  of  thy  faith.  Here 
it  is  not  the  eagles  nor  the  flight  of  birds,  that  lead  the  army, 
but  thy  name,  and  thy  worship."    (These  words  are  quoted 
with  many  pictures  of  the  Monogram  and  Labarum  in  Art. 
"Labarum"  in  Christ  Antiq.)    As  the  first  Christian  prayer  for 
an  army  recorded  in  History  these  words  are  a  fitting  introduc- 
tion to  the  many  references  to  war  by  Ambrose's  greater  con- 
temporary, St.  Augustine,  which  have  been  scattered  in  the 
works  of  the  latter,  translated  into  English  in  the  fifteen  volumes 
edited  by  Marcus  Dods.    There  are  references  to  war  from  the 
standpoint  which  is  being  considered  in  three  of  his  epistles,  as 
also  in  his  "City  of  God"  and  in  his  answer  to  Pestus  the 
Manichean  in  the  volume  devoted  to  that  heresy.    Taken  as  a 
whole,  there  will  be  found  several  references  to  Christ's  silence 
as  to  the  soldiers'  occupation  and  to  the  duty  of  military  service 
which  was  enjoined  through  the  command  "to  render  to  Caesar 
the  tilings  that  are  Caesar's."    There  is  one  slight  reference  to 
the  command  to  buy  a  sword,  and  to  the  words  taking  and 
perishing  by  the  sword,  having  a  reference  to  the  armed  crowd, 
who  came  out  to  arrest  Jesus.    While  in  his  exposition  on  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  there  were  not  found  references  to  war, 
in  those  other  places  above  mentioned,  that  sermon  was  fre- 
quently referred  to.  He  considers  frequently  the  words  of  Christ 
in  that  sermon  as  being  not  strictly  condemnatory  of  war,  but 
as  hortatory  to  the  spirit,  of  peace,  and  as  a  caution  against 
cultivating  the  spirit  of  mere  retaliation  or  revenge.    (See  epistle 
130  to  Marcellinus.) 

The  epistle  numbered  189  is  addressed  to  Count  Boniface, 
who  with  a  small  force  was  ineffectually  trying  to  check  a  large 
horde  of  heathen,  who  were  overrunning  the  North  of  Africa. 
Augustine  tells  that  commander  that  everyone  has  his  own  gift. 
Some  fight  for  God,  he  says,  by  prayer,  others  by  arms.  "Re- 
member, when  you  buckle  on  your  armor,  whose  you  are.  Your 
strength,  and  courage,  and  life  are  from  God.  War  is  a  thing 
of  necessity.  Peace  a  thing  of  desire.  You  do  not  seek  for 
peace  in  order  to  make  war,  but  you  seek  for  peace  bv  war  " 
Then  Augustine,  knowing  the  temptation  of  the  army  adds  • 


—  16  — 


•'Be  chaste,  faithful  to  your  wife;  he  sober,  be  frugal.  Shame 
it  is  to  conquer  men,  and  he  conquered  by  lust."  The  220th 
epistle  was  addressed  to  the  same  Count  Boniface  whom  the 
Bishop  of  Hippo  reproves  for  his  social  infidelity.  The  Bishop 
tells  his  correspondent  that  camp  life  docs  not  release  anyone 
from  any  obedience  to  any  command  of  God.  As  the  writer 
in  his  previous  letter  had  bidden  his  reader  to  remember  the 
words,  "Blessed  are  the  peace  makers,"  undoubtedly,  I  think 
all  the  brotherly  kindness  which  can  be  cultivated  in  many  dif- 
ferent ways  in  active  service,  from  what  can  be  done  in  days  of 
peace,  was  in  the  good  saint's  thoughts,  when  as  he  knew,  he 
was  near  to  death. 

The  Manicheans  believed  that  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament 
was  not  the  same  God  that  was  worshiped  by  the  followers  of 
Christ.  As  an  argument  for  that  belief,  Faustus,  one  of  their 
great  teachers  and  writers,  had  brought  as  proof  the  cruelties 
which  the  Jews  inflicted  on  their  enemies  at  the  command  of 
God.  In  the  74th  and  75th  chapters  of  the  22d  book  of  Angus- 
tine's  answer  to  Faustus  he  meets  that  argument,  ami  after  m. 
doing  writes:  ""What  is  the  evil  in  war?  Ts  it  in  the  death  of 
someone  (who  will  soon  die  in  any  case)  that  others  may  live 
in  peaceful  subjection?"  This  is  merely  cowardly  dislike,  not 
religious  feeling.  The  real  evils  in  war.  in  his  opinion,  are  love 
of  violence,  revengeful  cruelty,  fierce  and  implacable  enmity, 
wild  resistance,  lust  of  power,  and  such  like  feelings  and  actions ; 
generally  it  is  to  punish  them  that  in  obedience  to  God,  or  to 
some  lawful  authority,  that  good  men  undertake  wars. 

The  natural  order  which  it  seems  the  peace  of  mankind  or- 
dains is  that  the  monarch  should  have  the  power  of  undertaking 
war  if  he  thinks  it  advisable.    Even  the  wars  which  arise  from 
human  passion  cannot  hurt  God's  saints,  for  in  the  trial  of 
their  patience  and  in  the  chastening  of  their  spirit,  they  are 
benefited.    In  some  eases  it  is  plainly  the  will  of  God  that  men 
should  fight,  and  in  others  where  it  is  not  so  plain,  and  there 
may  come  some  command  to  a  soldier,  to  do  something  that  lie 
would  not  otherwise  do  as  a  soldier,  under  authority,  he  must 
obev  orders.    He  is  innocent  of  any  wrong-doing.    The  com- 
mander alone  is  to  blame.    The  soldier  ought  to  trace  back  his 
act  to  the  will  of  God,  who  placed  him  in  a  situation  where  he 
must  so  act.    The  same  kind  of  an  argument  is  used  by  Augus- 
tine in  the  20th  chapter  of  the  1st  book  of  the  treatise  called 
"City  of  God,"  when  writing  of  the  taking  of  lite  in  battle 
He  who  then  takes  life  should  not  think  of  himseli  or  be  thought 
by  others  as  being  a  homicide,  because  that  death  of  an  enemy 
was  the  natural  result  of  circumstances,  which  God  alone  con 
trolled     During  succeeding  centuries  it  is  said  that  very  little 
was  added  respecting  the  morality  of  war  to  the  view  of  Augus- 
tine    Excepting  the  Crusades,  most  of  the  greater  wars  were 
those  between  Christian  powers  and  some  hordes  of  at  best 
half-Christianized,  semi-civilized   nations  or  Islam  invaders. 
There  were  manv  squabbles  and  few  wars  of  long  d u ration,  be- 
tween Christian  nations  for  over  1.000  years  after  400  A.  D. 
But  what  does  the  religious  life  of  our  own  times  say  about  war  / 
We  shall  first  give  the  whole  of  a  short  section  relating  to  the 

—  17  — 


right  of  war,  because  it  is  a^^0f^™MeK 
question.  It  is  taken  from  a  portion  -  an  -"W*  f  j,. 
•' M,(:ii„,o,k  and  Strong Encyclopedia  °°  «  wj       not  only 

.'Bod.  a  course  of  ^^^^g^toSt  the  ruin 
the  immeiue  destruction  of  life  ana  propei 

liml  ,„,,,,.  of  helplessand  inn^    t    an  ,  • 

'"<»""<»■      '■ »'■''!"  '  '        ■  ,     •  which  tench  universal 

less  with  the  principles  oi  C hr ist  an  ty wnv  considera- 
love  and  beneficence.    1"  justny  su'  "  •  ,t  do  evi]  that 

lions  Of  person,  local  or  WW**^^  °:8  Casuists 
good  may  come,'  which  is  condemned  »   ™"       ,      jt  u, 

in  the  fear  of  God." 

As  a  foil  to  the  above,  "J**-!  to^tidt 
Of  four  of  the  hear  »  -n  rtich '  «  ^e  .,  ,ts  author  was 
the  last  volume  ol  1  he  >  '""nl"  1  '.'  •  .  '  ,  r;re"cii;in  Vn  ver- 
JS^iKTrf  r;ongDeotn^g0Every  word 
deserving  of  study. 

(1)  Every  perfect  right,  to  be  efficacious  and  real ^mpUea 
,he  right  to  defend  itself.  This  right,  however,  s  hmv tu 1.  1«J 
use  of  force  must  be  '^^A^tSS^J^  questions 

sdb^tWedsrr^ 

defS%lCrtofX  Right  of  War  is  in  the  natural  law, 

JgJZXSZ***  the  use oi  g^»s%~gfai 

 „t  „f  f|,„  r>„,.noses  for  which  the  State  exists,    ine  unn""" 

right  of  war,  comes  from  nature  only,  and 
not  from  the  consent  of  mankind. 

(3)  The  Possessor  of  the  Right  of  War.  Coercive,  right 
belongs  to  the  possessor  or  natural  guardian  of  those  rights 
heeause  there  is  no  higher  authority,  to  which  appeal  can  he 
made. 

14)  Title  and  Purpose  of  War.  Its  primary  title  comes  in 
,,„,  wav  a  that  i  s  State  rights  are  menaced  by  foreign 
agg  ess  o n  not  otherwise  to  be  prevented  except  by  force  (h) 
Sta  ,„msh  for  such  action,  or  (c)  to  obtain  security  from 
such  action  in  the  future.  The  State  is,  therefore,  the  only 
ute  which  is  to  decide  whether  its  rights  have  been  menaced 
v  foreiS  aggression;  whether  those  offenses  are  reparable  onl 
v  ti  e  n  c  of" force;  and  whether  success  through  victory  is  an 
lw  to  need  for  he  obtaining  security  for  the  future.  In 
Son  to  a  primary  title  to  declare  war,  the  State  can  acquire 
a  secondary  title  This  comes  through  the  request  of  an  innocent 
weak  state  which  is  being  injured  by  some  stronger  power. 
When  charity  hears  the  call  of  injured  weakness,  the  State  may 


exert  extreme  coercion  in  its  behalf.  Before  a  State  should 
allow  itself  to  declare  war,  under  either  title,  it  should  weigh 
well  the  thought  that  in  the  calm  forum  of  deliberate  reason, 
the  loss  of  a  single  life  outweighs  the  mere  offended  vanity  of 
either  king  or  people. 

With  this  brief  abstract  of  an  article  well  worthy  of  hours 
of  study,  we  close.  When  Christians  search  the  Scripture  to 
find  out  how  God  acts,  even  now  when  he  punishes  severely  and 
unmercifully  the  unmerciful  servants  to  force  them  and  others 
to  exercise  mercy  and  forgiveness;  when  they  remember  that  at 
Christ's  first  appearance  in  public,  he  was  such  a  tighter,  that 
he  seemed  to  his  apostles  to  be  the  one  who  was  spoken  of  in 
the  verse  in  the  Psalms,  where  it  was  written:  "The  zeal  for 
thine  house  hath  eaten  me  up  (Jn.  2:17)  ;  when  they  replace  in 
their  valuation  of  their  refinement,  culture,  wealth  and  life,  the 
values  which  Christ  placed  upon  them ;  when  forgiveness  and 
redemption  will  not  so  much  suggest  the  thought  of  happiness 
and  security  in  the  next  world  as  it  does  the  obligation  resting 
upon  them,  to  win,  through  God's  help,  the  next  spiritual  battle 
with  their  beloved  sins,  even  though  that  conflict  costs  them 
the  loss  of  a  quasi  eye,  or  hand,  or  limb,  or  even  life  itself; 
there  will  be  fewer  pacifists  in  the  world.  Then  it  would  be 
acknowledged  that  the  universal  feeling  in  the  hearts  of  almost 
100  million  peaceful  men,  that  those  actions  of  injustice,  dis- 
honor, falsity,  and  cruelty  inflicted  on  their  nation  must  be 
stopped  by  force  of  arms  is  not  only  a  right  natural  feeling,  but 
also  that  the  idea  of  using  compelling  force  as  a  restraining 
means,  has  the  sanction  of  God,  and  is  along  the  line  on  which 
Christ  acted  on  earth,  and  along  those  lines  which  are  mapped 
out  in  Revelations. 

It  is  true  "that  the  loss  of  one  life  outweighs  the  mere 
wounded  vanity  of  kings  and  people."  But  that  universal 
agreement  on  the  part  of  20  nations  on  four  continents  as  to 
unjust  actions  suffered  by  each  one  cannot  be  called  vanity.  If 
Christian  bigness  trusting  to  its  universal  army  service,  and 
also  in  the  idea  that  it  is  the  champion  rodent  of  the  world,  and 
can  build  trenches  from  which  it  can  be  driven  only  inch  by 
inch ;  if  on  account  of  that  power  and  that  protection,  bigness 
can  do  as  it  pleases,  and  be  a  law  unto  itself  then  the  loss  of 
even  a  million  of  lives,  divided  among  five  or  six  armies,  would 
not  he  too  great  a  sacrifice  to  pay,  to  teach  through  the  loss  of  so 
many  of  the  items  of  life  falling  on  that  one  Big  Strength 
through  its  weakening  power  felt  during  after  centuries,  thai 
justice,  righteousness  and  equity  are  equally  God  attributes  as 
love  is!  and  are  all  attributes  governed  by  love  and  all  used  in 
return  in  determining  what  is  love,  while  the  thought  of  loss 
would  only  force  from  saddened  hearts  the  words,  "The  Lord 
gave,  the  Lord  hath  taken  away.  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
Lord." 


—  19  — 


